Latest news with #Bratt
Edmonton Journal
09-08-2025
- Politics
- Edmonton Journal
'A good chunk of them are from Calgary': 2,000 Alberta Forever Canada signature collectors registered with Elections Alberta
Article content Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt thinks Lukaszuk is well-organized, but the threshold appears to be a little too high. Article content 'It's interesting that the government is determining that he needs the higher threshold than a subsequent petition by the APP, which has a lower threshold,' Bratt said. 'So, we'll have to see what is happening there. That's an awful lot of signatures to gather.' Article content Bratt said the petition can garner some enthusiastic supporters because it splits the question, but also has the potential to garner interest from separatists. Article content 'If you're a separatist, you're probably going to sign on the petition as well, simply because all they're doing is changing the 'yes' and the 'no,'' Bratt said. 'The question is quite similar to what the APP is proposing, as what Forever Canada is proposing. They just expect a different answer.' Article content Article content Article content The APP appeared in court on Thursday to oppose the decision by Alberta's chief electoral officer to gauge the constitutionality of their question by referring it to a judge. Article content A final verdict in regards to their petition application will be made on Aug. 14. Article content The petition led by Mitch Silvestre looks to ask Albertans: 'Do you agree that the province of Alberta shall become a sovereign country and cease to be a province in Canada?' Article content 'Because they're talking about the separation of Canada and they're talking about treaty rights, (it's) just the nuance of that, even though they have a slightly different question,' he said. Article content Bratt awaits the court's decision, and how challenges between the government and Election Alberta will unfold. Article content Although the question each petition asks are two sides of the same coin, the two processes are slightly different. Article content Article content 'There is still complexity around this, as well as Lukaszuk's petition is about a policy change, not a constitutional change,' he said. 'This could go to the legislature, and the legislature could determine if this goes to a referendum or the legislature.' Article content Despite portraying themselves as a neutral body, Bratt said the petition is on the UCP's radar. Article content 'There are clear elements in the UCP that want to separate from Canada,' he said. 'Danielle Smith and the Alberta Next Panel is all tied into that, and that's why they lowered the threshold. Article content 'It allows Smith to say – I want a sovereign Alberta in the united Canada, whatever the hell that is supposed to mean. But she's making it easier for separatist groups. What she didn't expect is Thomas Lukaszuk to come in and ask a pro-Canada question.' Article content Bratt draws comparisons to this current situation to the 2024 petition by Landon Johnston to recall Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek.
Calgary Herald
08-08-2025
- Politics
- Calgary Herald
'A good chunk of them are from Calgary': 2,000 Alberta Forever Canada signature collectors registered with Elections Alberta
Article content 'That's how overwhelming it is for Albertans,' he said. 'Everybody wants to sign this petition. Our biggest challenge is getting the petition to people who want to sign it.' Article content More information about the petition can be found online or following @LukaszukAB on X and Bluesky. Article content Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt thinks Lukaszuk is well-organized, but the threshold appears to be a little too high. Article content 'It's interesting that the government is determining that he needs the higher threshold than a subsequent petition by the APP, which has a lower threshold,' Bratt said. 'So, we'll have to see what is happening there. That's an awful lot of signatures to gather.' Article content Bratt said the petition can garner some enthusiastic supporters because it splits the question, but also has the potential to garner interest from separatists. Article content Article content 'If you're a separatist, you're probably going to sign on the petition as well, simply because all they're doing is changing the 'yes' and the 'no,'' Bratt said. 'The question is quite similar to what the APP is proposing, as what Forever Canada is proposing. They just expect a different answer.' Article content Article content The APP appeared in court on Thursday to oppose the decision by Alberta's chief electoral officer to gauge the constitutionality of their question by referring it to a judge. Article content A final verdict in regards to their petition application will be made on Aug. 14. Article content The petition led by Mitch Silvestre looks to ask Albertans: 'Do you agree that the province of Alberta shall become a sovereign country and cease to be a province in Canada?' Article content 'Because they're talking about the separation of Canada and they're talking about treaty rights, (it's) just the nuance of that, even though they have a slightly different question,' he said. Article content Article content Bratt awaits the court's decision, and how challenges between the government and Election Alberta will unfold. Article content Although the question each petition asks are two sides of the same coin, the two processes are slightly different. Article content 'There is still complexity around this, as well as Lukaszuk's petition is about a policy change, not a constitutional change,' he said. 'This could go to the legislature, and the legislature could determine if this goes to a referendum or the legislature.' Article content Despite portraying themselves as a neutral body, Bratt said the petition is on the UCP's radar. Article content 'There are clear elements in the UCP that want to separate from Canada,' he said. 'Danielle Smith and the Alberta Next Panel is all tied into that, and that's why they lowered the threshold. Article content 'It allows Smith to say – I want a sovereign Alberta in the united Canada, whatever the hell that is supposed to mean. But she's making it easier for separatist groups. What she didn't expect is Thomas Lukaszuk to come in and ask a pro-Canada question.' Article content Bratt draws comparisons to this current situation to the 2024 petition by Landon Johnston to recall Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek.
Calgary Herald
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Calgary Herald
How do you flip a flapjack — and why is the pancake so pivotal to the Calgary Stampede?
Article content Other breakfasts of note include the First Flip (which kicks off many people's Stampede celebrations in downtown Calgary on the Thursday before Stampede starts), a vegan pancake breakfast, a pink pancake breakfast supporting cancer research, a green tea breakfast organized by a Japanese restaurant, and many, many more. Article content Article content Well, simply put, free food brings out people, and where there are crowds of people, politicians see opportunity. Article content As Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt told Scott Strasser of Postmedia Calgary last year: The participation of politicians at Stampede breakfasts is practically a summer staple — and for obvious reason, says Bratt. While there is always the slight risk of a politician embarrassing themselves with a poor pancake-flipping technique or wardrobe faux pas, Bratt said the opportunity for a politician to attend a community breakfast is an easy, informal and fun way to interact with potential voters. Article content Article content Archives suggest Harry Hays — former Calgary mayor, MP and later senator — was the first politician to host large pancake breakfasts, starting around 1959. The events gave rise to the infamous Hays breakfasts at Heritage Park and his drink concoction known as Sillabub (fresh milk, ice and alcohol). Article content Article content They make for useful idioms, too. When something is very flat, it's flat as a pancake. When a first attempt at a task doesn't work out, it's noted that the first pancake is always spoiled. When a pilot makes an emergency landing and levels out close to the ground before dropping, it's a pancake landing. Pancake is also the name given to heavy makeup used by performers, often a matte powder compressed into a thin cake. Article content Chinook Centre broke the record in 2025, just last week, for serving the largest number of pancakes in eight hours. They served 26,994 pancakes and it took them less than 4½ hours to do so. According to Guinness, the world record for the largest pancake was set in 1994 in Manchester, England, when a three-tonne pancake was created, measuring just over 15 metres in diameter. The Guinness record for eating 10 pancakes the fastest is 19.46 seconds. Food Network host Bob Blumer broke another record in 2008 when he came to Calgary, flipping the most pancakes an hour: 559. Pancakes, or a variation, can be found around the world, ranging from the buttermilk variety common in North America to a scallion pancake in China, a banana-made pancake in Uganda and a rice dessert pancake in the Philippines. The most expensive pancake was made in 2014 to celebrate Shrove Tuesday in England. The $1,500 pancake dish included caviar, truffles, lobster and Dom Perignon hollandaise sauce. A pancake can also be called a flapjack, griddlecake or hotcake. Crepes may have similar ingredients but are much thinner. Waffles also have similar ingredients, but often contain more sugar and/or fat, along with less milk, making for a thicker batter. The Chinook Centre breakfast can draw crowds in the tens of thousands. The 2025 breakfast saw more than 35,000 people attend. In years past, volunteering at the Chinook breakfast was such a fun, sought-after gig that corporate partners would draw names to determine which of their employees would be lucky enough to get to volunteer at the breakfast. The first Chinook Centre breakfast occurred when a local radio station held a Stampede beard-growing contest. Chinook Centre agreed to host a pancake breakfast to coincide with the judging. By 5:30 a.m., people were lined up, awaiting breakfast. More than 10,000 people showed up. Organizers ran out of coffee. 'The pancake house nearby did a great business that day because people got tired of waiting for the free breakfast,' Don Thomas, former CFCN radio program director, recalled in a book about the shopping centre. 'The astronomical thing is that the breakfast is still going strong. We weren't looking to establish something that would last a half-century.' Article content Article content
Forbes
08-07-2025
- Forbes
Being A Digital Nomad Isn't For Everyone. Could You Handle It?
Being a digital nomad isn't for everyone. Could you handle it? You're scrolling through Instagram, watching another entrepreneur work from a Bali beach cafe, and wondering if you're missing out. Maybe you've already tried the digital nomad life and found yourself exhausted, broke, or back at a desk job within six months. About 18.1 million American workers described themselves as digital nomads in 2024, an increase of 147% since 2019. There are an estimated 165,000 British citizens working as digital nomads. Plus, 7% of the adult population want to do it. But not everyone can. Freelance journalist Emily Bratt discovered the digital nomad truth the hard way. After chasing the sun as a digital nomad, she found herself asking "What am I doing?" The whisper started halfway through her six-month trip and became a pervasive shriek by the end. She's not alone. The lifestyle doesn't solve your problems. If you're unorganised at home, you'll be more unorganised on the road. If you're lonely at home, you'll feel it tenfold abroad. You don't have to romanticise or demonise the digital nomad life. It's just life. Same work, different backdrop. After building and selling my social media agency and spending years as a full-time nomad, I've learned that success comes down to systems, not settings. Signs you could be a digital nomad: work from anywhere If you go into nomad life expecting constant novelty and effortless freedom, you'll be disappointed. The WiFi crashes during client calls. You get food poisoning the week of a major launch. Your Airbnb cancels at the last minute. These aren't exotic travel problems. They're Tuesday. Bratt recalls her own health struggles in Vietnam. Tonsillitis was bookended by rounds of food poisoning, all within two months. She shivered through a two-hour ferry ride, silently willing it to end. Maybe you're the founder who thinks a change of scenery will cure your procrastination. Or you believe that working from tropical locations will somehow make spreadsheets more exciting. The truth hits hard when you're sitting in a stunning villa in Thailand, still avoiding the same tasks you dodged back home. Geography doesn't fix psychology. The people who burn out or bounce back to the 9-5 after trying to become a nomad are usually trying to replicate holiday mode with a laptop. They book destinations based on tourist attractions rather than timezone compatibility. They switch locations every week, constantly packing and unpacking instead of building momentum. That's not a business, that's a breakdown waiting to happen. When you're moving from place to place, misalignment shows. Bratt noticed this multiple times. Watching someone brag about passive income before catching them stressed on a 10pm video call, seeing a life coach who preached positivity scream at a waitress about an overdone steak. You need solid processes, recurring income, timezone awareness, and a brilliant VA who keeps everything moving while you're on a flight, setting up your workspace, or hunting for decent WiFi. Set up your business to run without you before you leave. Test your systems from your home country first. I've been a full-time digital nomad since 2021 and I love it, but that's because I'm intentional. I've built systems that remove decision fatigue, I've got a clear structure to my workday, and I always have the next location planned, even if that changes. Every morning looks the same whether I'm in London or Cape Town. Wake up, focused work block, gym, lunch, calls, evening routine. The backdrop changes. The discipline doesn't. Pick three cities for the year and spend two to three months in each. Book accommodation near a gym with strong WiFi. Find your coffee shop, your workspace, your routine within the first week. Stop trying to see every tourist site. You're not on vacation. You're building a business that happens to operate from interesting locations. Digital nomad loneliness is not predictable. Bratt describes watching friends in Sydney go about their days, making plans before she arrived and after she left. "I was like a time traveller, temporarily injected into their world from another realm," she reflects. You're surrounded by travelers who disappear after three days and locals you can't fully connect with due to language barriers or temporary status. Build community before you need it. Join location-independent entrepreneur groups. Schedule regular calls with mentors and peers. Plan your destinations around conferences or coworking spaces where you'll find your people. Create a travel schedule that friends can access so they know where to visit you. Make maintaining relationships as systematic as managing your business. Do you have the financials in place for your digital nomad dream? Otherwise, you're not running a remote business, you're just running away from life. Calculate your actual costs including flights, accommodation, insurance, and the inevitable emergency expenses. Add 30% for reality. Know your minimum viable income before cutting ties with stability. Maybe you need three solid clients on retainer before leaving. Or six months of expenses saved. Or a product that sells while you sleep. The specifics matter less than having them. Write down exactly how much you need to earn each month, where it comes from, and what happens if a client drops out while you're 12 time zones away. Execute that plan for three months from your home base. If it works there, it might work anywhere. Could you be a digital nomad? Find out before taking the leap For Bratt, the realization came at a Sydney rock pool. After chatting with locals and laughing with old friends, she understood that location wasn't the main determinant of happiness for. Instead, it was people and community, which she could find at home without a cutoff point. She signed a year-long lease in Brighton. The digital nomad life rewards preparation, punishes romanticism, and amplifies everything you already are. If you're prepared and ready, it's the everyday of a lifetime. If you're not, you'll struggle bigtime. Build the business first. Test the systems second. Book the flight last.
Global News
20-06-2025
- Business
- Global News
United Conservative Party releases CPP survey results 21 months late
It's taken nearly two years for the province to release results from a survey that asked Albertans if they wanted an Alberta Pension Plan (APP). The survey showed 63 per cent of respondents were opposed to an APP, while only 10 per cent were in support. More recent polling from Leger in February found 55 per cent of Albertan's opposed an Alberta Pension Plan. A May 2025 poll from Janet Brown found 55 per cent of Albertans were in support of the APP if there were more details. In May, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said, 'I am seeing the results you are, I am not seeing that there is an appetite to put it to the people at the moment.' Duane Bratt, a political science professor at Mount Royal University, says the Janet Brown poll, commissioned by the government of Alberta, has interesting results with the number of people waiting for more information. Story continues below advertisement He adds people wanted answers to questions. 'Like, what is the amount that Alberta Pension Plan would start with? What would be the contribution rates? What would be the benefit rates? What would be the mobility between provinces? All of those sorts of questions haven't been answered,' said Bratt. 1:56 Alberta finance minister says he has not 'flip-flopped' on proposed pension change Bratt says the survey was not fair because it asked questions that assumed the respondent wanted an Alberta Pension Plan. 'The question itself was, would you want to leave the CPP if you had the exact same program. In the absence of any details, how do you know that that's the exact same program,' said Bratt. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy He adds the survey results are no longer accurate but the delay of the release of the results shows a lack of transparency from the provincial government. 'The bigger story is how and why the government of Alberta refused to hand over public survey data that they encouraged Albertans to fill out. They went to extreme measures to block it, because they realized it was going to embarrass them. They believed that this was a neutral process to just explore the idea of leaving the Canadian pension plan, but it wasn't,' said Bratt. Story continues below advertisement The province says they will continue to talk with Albertans on this topic and says nothing will change unless Albertans approve a new pension plan in a referendum. Bratt says by itself, majority of Albertans are against the province pulling out of CPP and creating the APP. He adds that he expects to see several referendum questions about Alberta's independence. Those might include questions on the APP, an Alberta police force, and Alberta independence. 'I think what the government is hoping for is maybe people might not want to separate, but they still want to send a message to Ottawa,' said Bratt.
